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Don’t panic. Kill mosquitoes
Pandemics make for good horror films. Few things are scarier than a dangerous, incurable new disease that spreads quickly. And globalisation means that plagues can travel far, wide and terrifyingly fast. […] The newest horror is Zika. This mosquito borne virus, which originated in Africa, was spotted in Brazil last year. It is now moving across Latin America and the Caribbean, with cases in more than 20 countries. Originally, it was thought to cause little worse than a rash and fever. Now, propelling the disease into the realm of nightmares, doctors suspect that when pregnant women catch it, their babies may be permanently damaged. Zika is the ′ suspect for a sharp increase in the number of babies with microcephaly in Brazil. Children are born with abnormally small heads and are likely to be brain-damaged. They may suffer severe learning difficulties, seizures and other problems. Many will die young.
Scientists are trying to confirm the link between Zika and microcephaly. Some suspect that the virus may also occasionally cause serious damage to nerves and the immune system in infected adults. Though a mosquito bite is the main way to catch it, there are fears that it can also be transmitted sexually. [...]
Zika has no cure and a vaccine will not be available for at least a decade. But that is no cause for despair. […] Two things are known for certain. The first is that the main, possibly only, transmission route is via mosquitoes, which pick up the virus from infected people and pass it on when the pests next take a meal. The second is how to cut the number of mosquitoes – and preferably eradicate them. […]
Research into novel ways to kill mosquitoes […] deserves more funding. Genetic modification, which produces mosquitoes that are sterile but still attractive to other mosquitoes, shows promise. A trial in Brazil suggests that releasing swarms of modified insects can reduce the unmodified population in months.
All this will be pricey. But it would bring not one, but several, dread diseases under control. Aedes aegypti does not carry malaria, but the methods used to kill it will also kill Anopheles, which does. The moment has come again to take the fight to the mosquitoes – and this time to finish the job.
Scientists are trying to confirm the link between Zika and microcephaly. Some suspect that the virus may also occasionally cause serious damage to nerves and the immune system in infected adults. Though a mosquito bite is the main way to catch it, there are fears that it can also be transmitted sexually. [...]
Zika has no cure and a vaccine will not be available for at least a decade. But that is no cause for despair. […] Two things are known for certain. The first is that the main, possibly only, transmission route is via mosquitoes, which pick up the virus from infected people and pass it on when the pests next take a meal. The second is how to cut the number of mosquitoes – and preferably eradicate them. […]
Research into novel ways to kill mosquitoes […] deserves more funding. Genetic modification, which produces mosquitoes that are sterile but still attractive to other mosquitoes, shows promise. A trial in Brazil suggests that releasing swarms of modified insects can reduce the unmodified population in months.
All this will be pricey. But it would bring not one, but several, dread diseases under control. Aedes aegypti does not carry malaria, but the methods used to kill it will also kill Anopheles, which does. The moment has come again to take the fight to the mosquitoes – and this time to finish the job.
Zika has no cure and a vaccine will not be available for at least a decade. But that is no cause for despair. […] Two things are known for certain. The first is that the main, possibly only, transmission route is via mosquitoes, which pick up the virus from infected people and pass it on when the pests next take a meal. The second is how to cut the number of mosquitoes – and preferably eradicate them. […]
Research into novel ways to kill mosquitoes […] deserves more funding. Genetic modification, which produces mosquitoes that are sterile but still attractive to other mosquitoes, shows promise. A trial in Brazil suggests that releasing swarms of modified insects can reduce the unmodified population in months.
All this will be pricey. But it would bring not one, but several, dread diseases under control. Aedes aegypti does not carry malaria, but the methods used to kill it will also kill Anopheles, which does. The moment has come again to take the fight to the mosquitoes – and this time to finish the job.
Research into novel ways to kill mosquitoes […] deserves more funding. Genetic modification, which produces mosquitoes that are sterile but still attractive to other mosquitoes, shows promise. A trial in Brazil suggests that releasing swarms of modified insects can reduce the unmodified population in months.
All this will be pricey. But it would bring not one, but several, dread diseases under control. Aedes aegypti does not carry malaria, but the methods used to kill it will also kill Anopheles, which does. The moment has come again to take the fight to the mosquitoes – and this time to finish the job.
TEXT A recommends that the quickest way to conquer Zika is
